Pure Michigan

If you live in the Chicagoland area, I'm sure you've see or heard a commercial that features the talented Tim Allen. There is just something so enchanting about his voice in those television and radio commercials that give me this strong desire to visit Michigan. So we did! Along with our friends, Jason and Rachel, we hit the the road for a little time away in Michigan.

Saturday, October 1st Jason and Rachel picked us up at our apartment just after 9:00 a.m. We loaded up our overnight essentials into their Xterra and we were on our way.

Our first stop on our mini vacation was the St. Julian Winery - a winery that we have done together in the past. There we did some light tasting and purchased a few of our favorites. After St. Julian we walked practically next door to Warner Vineyards. Again, some more light tasting and a we picked out a few bottles to take home.

At this point it was getting to be lunch time, so we walked across the street to Subway. Yum! We arrived just in time for Subway's ANYtober! Any regular foot long sub for $5! Score! And yes... I ate my very own foot long.

Once we were done enjoying our lunch we got back on the road and went to Jollay Orchards to try some unique apple cider. I think that Jason tried the strangest tasting apple cider ever... peppermint cider! Yeah, not the best. Ha ha!

After sampling some cider we went to the Jollay Orchard down the road to pick some apples! This was mine and Dan's first time picking apples. The orchard was crowded but we managed to find a spot where there were LOTS of delicious apples to be picked and no one else was around. We had a blast and our baskets were full in no time!

After apple picking we went to Contessa Wine Cellars and Tabor Hill Winery to enjoy a little more wine tasting.

At this point it was starting to get close to dinner time, so we went to go check in to our hotel and search for a place to have dinner. In the room, Jason and I fell asleep while Dan played around on his laptop and Rachel played on her iPod Touch.

After a quick cat nap I was refreshed and ready to get some dinner. We all agreed on a BBQ joint called Charlie's Piggin' N' Grillin' in Benton Harbor. It had fabulous reviews on Yelp! and the prices were great. It was delicious! Apparently, the food gets smoked for hours and they let you sample side dishes before you even pick! You'd think you were down south with this fabulous food!

Next, we drove to St. Joseph to catch a lovely sunset off of Lake Michigan and then grabbed some specialty coffee at a nearby cafe, The South Bend Chocolate Company. There we listened to two guys preform some music while we sipped at our Halloween-themed coffee and got warmed up. It was a nice way to wrap up a fun and eventful day.

On Sunday, October 2nd we got up around 9:00 a.m. and packed up our stuff to leave our hotel. Once we were all packed we went to IHOP to enjoy a late breakfast of coffee, eggs, bacon and specialty pancakes - minus pumpkin pancakes, since they were fresh out. Boo!

After "brunch" we went back to the cider mill so that Rachel could get some carmel apple cider - can't go wrong with a classic flavor.

Next, we went to two more wineries Domaine Berrien Cellars and The Round Barn. At The Round Barn we discovered that they were charging for tastings (every other place was free). We figured that since we had already gotten a number of bottles at past wineries we decided to skip this one. Instead, Dan and Jason went to The Round Barn's brewery were they each got a glass of beer that tasted a lot like a chocolatey version of Guiness - plus, they got to keep the glasses. There was a local guy singing some accustic tunes in the outside patio area, so we took advatage of the nice weather and sat outside to enjoy the music.

Now it was time to head home. We got back later that afternoon, just in time for Dan to get ready to go to his volleyball game. I stayed home and rested because I came home with something that I didn't intend to... a cold! Oh well, cold or no cold... it was an excellent weekend!